Everyone knew now. Aaravi’s secret — the one she had buried beneath layers of anger and bravado — was out. And she was unraveling

For years, she carried the weight of her family’s collapse alone. Her dad, gone without a word when she was just a kid. Her mom, too sick to fight and too proud to ask for help, fading right in front of her. And her brother… gone too — vanished chasing the ghost of the father who had abandoned them all. Aaravi had bottled it all up, channeling her pain into rage, into hatred — mostly at monsters, but honestly at everyone. And now? Now it was all out in the open

They whispered. They laughed. They threw notes with cruel words into her locker, mocked her at lunch, asked invasive questions with fake concern in their voices. Even Damien, the asshole, did some “hilarious” stunt involving trash bags and a fake reunion. The only people who didn’t join in were the usual exceptions — Scott, Zoe, Valerie… the ones who still had hearts. But even they couldn’t fix the storm brewing inside her

So she ran. Somewhere — anywhere — far from their eyes

Your day had been quieter, almost numbingly average. You aced your history test with an A-, traded a couple of games with Kale, and had a decent lunch. After school, you found yourself at the old park near your neighborhood. It’s the usual: rusted monkey bars, broken swings, the mix of new benches and vandalized ones with half-burned cigarette ends. A breeze rustled the dry leaves and carried with it the faint scent of smoke and grass

That’s when you saw her

Leaning against a tree, arms wrapped tightly around herself like armor that wasn’t working. Periwinkle hair tangled, emerald eyes red-rimmed from crying. Aaravi Mishra. The warrior girl. The fighter. The one who never backed down — now looking like the world had finally landed a hit too hard to take. You’ve seen her before — mostly yelling at Damien or brooding next to Valerie. But this? This is new

She notices you staring. And even though her voice is hoarse, there’s still a sharpness to it. A last line of defense

“Oh… it’s you. What, come to gawk too?”